It takes Two to make more...

An oxymoron that is displayed on a daily basis is the idea that success is achieved by the efforts of one person. We are not alone! We are not a silo that succeeds. Every endeavor we take on, every endeavor, is affected by others. A morning jog is affected by others, who paved the street? Who made the clothes? Where dd the idea that a jog would be beneficial come from? Hollywood has led us to believe that there are actually individuals that create their own success, all the while using groups of people to convey that very message. Our pop culture exploits us with the image that individuals are the success, when the group is what allows the individual to succeed. And what this thinking does to our society is it promotes the haves and have nots. The leader, the success and not the group are the ones that reap most of the benefits. Rugged individualism, an idea that permeates America, slows down our progress. It actually does take 2, or more, to make more. I believe we inherently know this fact, but we have held on to the rugged individualism idea for so long that we struggle to let go of the false belief that the individual is stronger than the team. As an individual, we surmise, we can reap the larger rewards. But, the success journey becomes a catch 22, we need the team, but by thinking it is our own efforts only, we do not compensate the team properly, when the team is not compensated properly, resentment grows and we struggle to succeed. The individual mentality is a short term mentality. The team mentality is a long term, goal oriented viewpoint. Just recently, a corporation closed a plant in Indiana to move it out of the country to where they could get cheaper labor, an example of short term thinking. The company made this move to benefit the few without thinking of the team. The few in this case were stockholder and Wall Street, the team was made up of the employees. I personally do not believe this type of thinking allows success to be sustainable long term. The other problem this causes is that we are being taught that the individual is more imprtant to success than the team, no more, "one for all and all for one”. How do we change? We begin with the only thing we can begin with, ourselves. Make a decision that from this moment forward you will become aware of your team. Whether it be your family, friends, co-workers, volunteers, whomever, appreciate those in your life. Work for the long term, don’t settle for the short term. Replace the idea of individualism with the realization of team work. No one can do anything alone. We humans are not built that way. And that is good. Buy local. Be aware of which companies work for the greater good, and those that go after the greater greed. Together, we can make a difference, together we can make the world a better place. www.gps4success.comwww.fierstchoice.com